


When in Paris...

by martianbarnes



Series: Stucky Bingo [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, slight mentions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianbarnes/pseuds/martianbarnes
Summary: Bucky was going to be so mad at him. Steve promised. He promised he’d behave for once, that he wouldn't pick any fights.Why on Earth would I do that on our vacation, Buck?he'd said.Oh, how little had he known.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Stucky Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935310
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59
Collections: Stucky Bingo 2020





	When in Paris...

**Author's Note:**

> Look at that, it's my firtst fic in ages, my first ever Stucky fic and my first contribution to the **[Stucky Bingo 2020](https://stuckybingo2020.tumblr.com/)**! It's both exciting and slightly terrifying. I hope it's not as bad as it feels and that you'd like it. Also excuse my French, literally. I used to learn it for a bit but I remember close to nothing so I used an online dictionary for those parts, I have no idea if they're legit lmao

This whole trip was Bucky’s idea. 

One day he just busted through the door after an exceptionally frustrating day at work and announced that they are going on vacation or else he’d go insane. Knowing how much Bucky enjoyed his work at Stark Industries and how little he usually complained about anything besides Stark’s asshole-ness, Steve knew his boyfriend must’ve reached his limits. And he was fine with that. The trip, that is. Not Bucky losing his mind due to being overworked. They deserved to get away for awhile. Both of them had to deal with a fair share of stress at their respective jobs. Bucky was one of the engineers in StarkIndustries newest medical branch and he worked on diagnostics equipment for hospitals. He had to deal with deadlines, great responsibility, unpredictable malfunctions and—worst of all—Tony Stark. Steve on the other hand, being a primary school art teacher had to deal with crying, annoying parents, school dramas and children’s moods that changed even quicker than Tony's—but only barely. It was impossible to tell who had it worse.

So Bucky said they’re going on vacation. And since Steve was dating none other than James Buchanan Barnes, they had to go big or go home. So they flew to Paris.

Unsurprisingly, they spend their first day in the city of love in their bed, sleeping off the jet lag and Steve's general feeling of being chewed up and spat that appeared after his every longer flight. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast they finally felt ready to explore the city. They spent the next four days trying to see as many must-see tourist spots as they could. For hours they walked around the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre, where Bucky happily let Steve babble about art and probably looked more at his boyfriend than the masterpieces around them. They’ve sat in a cafe at Place du Tertre, close to when Picasso used to live and wondered if he complained about the horrendous prices as much as they did. Steve tried to make a point about clichés when they were taking the cheesiest selfies by the Eiffel Tower but Bucky just told him to stop being a fucking hipster and let him have his cute pictures. They visited the Sewers Museum which was both interesting and creepy as hell. They had a picnic in Jardin des Tuileries and Steve might’ve fallen asleep for a moment with his head in Bucky’s lap. Bucky has gotten more than a few unamused looks from the locals when he started singing  _ Champs Elysées  _ during their evening stroll to see the Arc de Triomphe.

Even despite his boyfriend being an idiot, those were probably the best days in Steve’s life.

On the penultimate day of their trip they decided to go out for a drink or two to a small bar near their hotel. It was pretty crowded for a Thursday evening but it wasn't the worst. They managed to find a tiny table in the far corner of the room and Steve headed for the bar to get them drinks. He scanned the variety of alcohol available, waiting for his turn in the short queue that had formed by the bar. And then he noticed it.

Across from where he was standing, there was a young woman, sitting on a barstool. Steve wouldn’t spare her a second glance if it wasn’t for the terrified look on her face. Furrowing his brows, he realised that her knuckles were white around the thick glass she was holding in her shaky hand. The reason for her distress was pretty obvious. Next to her—far too close, even if they had known each other and Steve assumed they didn’t—there was a well-built, bearded man with a dirty smile on his face. His leg was resting on the footring of the woman’s chair, his knee pressing into her tight. When he reached to caress her exposed arm, she visibly flinched away. One had to be completely blind not to notice that the creep was hitting on the poor lady. And she definitely wasn't enjoying it.

Steve gritted his teeth and he felt his fingers curl into a fist involuntarily. Bucky was going to be so mad at him. Steve promised. He promised he’d behave for once, that he wouldn't pick any fights.  _ Why on Earth would I do that on our vacation, Buck?  _ he'd said. 

Oh, how little had he known.

He didn't even try to stop himself. Not when the creeps hand traveled down to rest on the woman’s tight. How could Steve just let her be harassed like that?

“ _ Je pense que la dame ne s’pas amusé. Peut-être que tu devrais la laisser tranquille. _ (I think the lady is not having a good time. Maybe you should leave her alone?),” Steve said, approaching them. 

Both the creep and the woman turned their heads to look at him. She let out her breath, sending Steve a worried look but she smiled, clearly happy that someone was there to help her. The creep on the other hand looked Steve up and down with a disdainful smirk on his face.

“ _ Ah bon? Et si je ne le fais pas? Qu'est ce que tu vas faire, tu petite merde? _ (Really? And what if I don’t? What are you gonna do to me, you little shit?)” the creep spat in response, grinning at Steve.

Squaring his shoulders, Steve looked the creep straight in the eyes. “ _ On va voir. _ (Let's see.)"

The creep laughed in response, which only made Steve angrier. But before he could take a good swing at the guy and use the element of surprise, someone yelled “Hey! HEY!” and stepped between Steve and his would-be opponent.

“What the fuck is going on here? Are you harassing this lady? Because if you do, you better fuck off or I’ll fucking end you,” Steve heard Bucky’s voice as his boyfriend grabbed the front of the creep’s shirt and shoved him in the general direction of the door.

And since Bucky Barnes could turn into a fury of a man in a split second, the creep actually left. Steve's shoulders relaxed. The woman was safe and it ended up without a fight. It’s a good thing Bucky noticed them.

“And you…,” Bucky started, his voice low as he faced Steve. His eyes were narrowed dangerously and his nostrils were flaring.

Steve swallowed. Maybe it was not a good thing Bucky noticed them. Because his boyfriend could indeed turn into a fury of a man but—unfortunately for Steve—that fury was now focused solely on him.

“You fucking punk.  _ On va voir  _ my ass! I don’t even want to know what that means. Did you learn how to ask to get your ass kicked in every fucking language?” Bucky yelled, pointing his finger at Steve threateningly. “I asked you for one thing. Just. Fucking. One. You were supposed to behave and not get beaten to a pulp for once. Is this too much to ask, Steve? Is this too much to ask for my boyfriend to stay safe, Steve? I told you I don’t wanna patch you up or spend our vacation in the E.R. just because you can’t keep your reckless-little-shittness at bay!”

Bucky’s breathing hard, still looking daggers at Steve. Steve knew better than to try and explain himself when Bucky was this mad so he just patiently waited for his boyfriend’s tirade to end.

“I’m sorry, Miss,” Bucky turned to face the—relieved, but slightly confused—woman, calming down a bit. “Of course we’re glad we could help you and I’m glad he tried to. But my boyfriend’s just too stupid to understand that a stronger wind can knock him down, not to mention a Parisian creep.”

“Buck, calm down,” Steve said, wrapping his arm around Bucky’s elbow. He had noticed a few heads turned towards them. “You’re making a scene.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Steve knew. He sighed, wondering why he always had to say the worst things in the worst possible moments. He braced himself, not meeting Bucky's eyes when he slowly turned around with disbelief clear in his eyes.

“Oh, excuse me, Stevie! How could I be so silly to cause a scene?! I should’ve sat at the table and watch you pick another damn fight! Cause that wouldn’t make a fucking scene, of course! How could I be so silly not to realise that, huh?!”

There’s a quiet snort of laughter coming from behind Bucky’s back. When they both looked that way, they saw the woman trying to hide her smile behind her hand. Bucky just raised his eyebrows at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her accent heavy. Steve was pretty impressed that she was still smiling at Bucky after everything she’d witnessed. “I didn’t mean to laugh, it must be the stress. But thank you both so much, this guy was horrible and I don’t know how I would’ve gotten away from him if it wasn’t for you. I hope your boyfriend is not in too much trouble. He just wanted to help me.”

She smiled warmly at Steve and he reciprocated the gesture but quickly stopped when he saw Bucky glaring at him.

A heavy sigh left Bucky’s lips and his face turned into something way softer and more fond when he reached to wrap his arm around Steve’s waist.

“He always just wants to help. It’s a pity he can’t help himself from finding trouble everywhere,” Bucky said to the woman.

“How else would I find you?” Steve dared to joke and grinned when he saw Bucky rolling his eyes with a badly contained smile.

“You’re a reckless idiot and I’m still mad at you.”

Steve burrowed his face in Bucky's neck and said quietly, "I know. I'm sorry."

They decided to change their plans and head back to the hotel. On their way out they helped the woman catch a cab and she thanked them for everything about fifteen more times. When she safely drove off, Steve wrapped his arm around Bucky's middle as they walked down the street.

"I'll have to change the number on my 'Days without Steve getting into a fight' board back to zero," Bucky let out a deep sigh, but he smiled down at Steve.

"What was it before?"

"I don't know, like… 3, probably."

"Oh, you're so full of shit, Barnes. It was obviously more than 3 days, we've been in Paris for 5 already!" Steve tried to protest, elbowing Bucky in the side.

"Don't remember the teenager you yelled at for knocking over that old lady outside the souvenir store?"

"It wasn't a fight, I wouldn't fight a kid, Buck! And I didn't yell at him."

"You just scolded him. Very sternly. And quite loudly," Bucky agreed. "You do that quite a lot. I don't know why people get annoyed at you and try to punch you."

Steve just snorted, trying to elbow Bucky again, but it was a half-hearted attempt. The only thing he got in response is a laugh as Bucky wrapped an arm around his neck and tugged him closer to place a kiss at his temple.

After a few seconds of silence, Steve said, "I'm sorry I ruined our evening."

"You didn't. And you definitely saved that girl from having her evening ruined. But as much as I'm attracted to your heart of gold and no matter how hot you look when you're a little roughed up after a fight, I hate you getting hurt."

Steve squinted his eyes at Bucky, "You think I look hot beaten up?"

"Of course this is the only thing you've gotten from what I've said," Bucky muttered, shaking his head. "I said 'a little roughed up'. And you know why's that? Because it means you knew when to fucking stop and you didn't get yourself killed."

"It's usually because someone else steps in to help or they get bored with hitting me. I don't give up. My Ma didn't raise a quitter."

"She raised a dumbass punk with a negative survival instinct."

"Maybe, but not a quitter," Steve repeated with a grin.

Bucky let out a loud, frustrated growl that made the receptionist look up, for they were walking through the front door of their hotel.

"You're such a little shit, I sometimes want to punch you myself," Bucky admitted.

Steve cocked an eyebrow and the side of his mouth curled up. "There are other things you can do to me to deal with that frustration."

"Really? What kind of things?"

Wrapping his arms around Bucky's waist, Steve moved closer so he could whisper into his boyfriend's ear. "On va voir."

And he cackled, running towards the nearby elevators.

"You fuck, I still don't know what that even means!" Bucky yelled, running after him. "What on Earth did you try to do to that guy at the bar?"

**Author's Note:**

> Title: When in Paris...  
> Creator(s): niallhoranbitches  
> Card number: 065  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465755  
> Square filled: C1 - "On va voir"  
> Rating: Teen and Up  
> Archive warnings: slight mentions of violence  
> Major tags: Pre-serum Steve, Modern Setting AU, Estabilished Relationship  
> Summary: Bucky was going to be so mad at him. Steve promised. He promised he’d behave for once, that he wouldn't pick any fights. _Why on Earth would I do that on our vacation, Buck?_ he'd said.  
> Oh, how little had he known.  
> Word count: 2152


End file.
